METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A HYBRID NODE IN A CELLULAR WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

摘要

A new approach to deployment of a hybrid node in a cellular communication network is proposed, wherein the hybrid node includes a plurality of antennas that simultaneously serve a plurality of cells in the cellular communication network by transmitting or receiving signals to or from the cells at the same time. The cellular communication network further includes a partner cell among the plurality of cells served by the hybrid node, wherein the partner cell is a soft cell that maintains communication channels with antennas of more than one node at the same time. The cellular communication network further includes a hybrid cell among the plurality of cells also served by the hybrid node, wherein the hybrid cell is a hard cell that maintains communication channels with antennas of only one node at any one time. The partner cell and the hybrid cell have different cell-ids and they each connects to and serves a plurality of user equipment (UE) for uplink communication to and downlink communication from the hybrid node.

主权项

1. A system to support hybrid node deployment in a cellular communication network, comprising:
a hybrid node including a plurality of antennas that simultaneously serve a plurality of cells in the cellular communication network by transmitting or receiving signals corresponding to the plurality of cells at the same time; a first cell of the plurality of cells having a first cell-id served by the hybrid node, wherein the first cell is a soft cell that maintains communication channels corresponding to the first cell-id covering an area, with antennas of more than one neighboring node at the same time; a second cell of the plurality of cells having a second cell-id served by the hybrid node, wherein the second cell is a hard cell that maintains communication channels corresponding to the second cell-id, with antennas of only one node at any one time; wherein each of the first cell and the second cell serves a plurality of user equipment (UEs) for uplink communication to and downlink communication from the hybrid node, wherein downlink and/or uplink communication band of the second cell completely or partially overlaps with downlink and/or uplink communication band of the first cell, and the antennas of the more than one neighboring node are not co-located with the plurality of antennas of the hybrid node.